Showdown hopes still strong despite challenges at Cadwell Park
Cadwell Park
The seventh round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship has been a challenging weekend for Honda Racing UK at the teams' home round at Cadwell Park. However despite certain challenges throughout, the team are coming away with some positives and Glenn Irwin remains in the Showdown fight sitting fifth overall, with just three races remaining until the top-eight are decided.
In today's opening 18-lap race Glenn started from eighth on the grid aboard his CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. Dropping back to 12th in the opening stages of the race, Glenn managed to push back through the pack and was sitting ninth when the race was red flagged on the 16th lap, and the result declared.
For the final race of the day he started from tenth and again dropped back some places, however finding his rhythm he started to bridge the gap to the group in front fighting for fourth place. Enjoying a battle with Jason O'Halloran in the closing stages, Glenn crossed the line eighth to maintain his place in the Showdown challenge, where with 214 points he's sitting fifth overall.
Takumi Takahashi impressed across the weekend with his progress at the circuit, despite also struggling with set-up issues. Having to start Race 2 from the very back of the grid in 28th, after crashing in yesterday's Race 1. Takumi came through the pack and crossed the line 20th, but more importantly he scored the 12th fastest time of the race moving him up the grid to start the final race of the weekend from 12th.
Unfortunately a bad start off the line saw Takumi drop back to 22nd, but digging deep he managed to get back into the fight and passed Showdown contender Kyle Ryde on the final lap to claim the last points spot in 15th place. Meanwhile Tom Neave wrapped up his weekend at his local track 17th and 19th, with Ryo Mizuno 22nd and 21st.
The team will now get ready for the eighth round of the 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, which takes place at Snetterton on 9/10/11 September, and when the Showdown eight will be decided.
In Race 3 we had a much better race, we made some changes to the chassis which helped a lot with our changes in direction, and improved one of the areas we'd be struggling with. It was one of those races, as soon as [Christian] Iddon went out, we had a gap to bridge to the group in front, but I was able to catch them and stay on their tails, which I was pleased about, as well as the battle with Jason [O'Halloran] at the end. That being said, we always want more when we go racing and especially at Honda's home round, but to be in that enjoyable battle for fourth is encouraging. It has been a difficult weekend, but it's the best I've felt physically at Cadwell, which is good as I have come a long way from my old shoulder injury. We're now heading to Snetterton, where hopefully we can confirm a place in the Showdown before the final race of the weekend.
Cadwell Park is one of the hardest tracks and we improved our times over last year, but again it wasn't enough. We have improved, but these British circuits are particularly difficult. We still have a few more races to go, so we will try to build on this experience.
In the second race today I didn't get the same feeling due to the crash in yesterday's Race 1, I also started from the back of the grid, so it was difficult to catch up. In the last race of the day I made a huge mistake at the start and lost a lot of positions. I tried my best to catch up but only made it to 15th. I would like to thank all the team staff for preparing the bike to ride in Race 3 with a good feeling. There are lots of positive points this weekend and I also enjoyed Cadwell Park.
It's not the weekend I was hoping for to be honest. We had the test here on Friday and we knew we were somewhere near. Everyone had been doing some amazing lap times, we come to Cadwell and the team are always able to fight for results, so to not achieve that top ten for us, and to have struggled all weekend is disappointing, which we can't hide. It didn't come together for us, we tried plenty of things and it certainly wasn't through a lack of not trying. The team worked hard to solve our issues and give us a better package, but unfortunately it just didn't click this weekend. It's a shame but we've got to keep our heads up, Snetterton is next on the calendar and that's also been a good track for us and the team. We've got to keep believing and sometimes you have to focus on the positives, and I'm sure everything will click soon.